Cate Campbell deprived herself of food to be 'skinny'

Australia’s 4x100m freestyle Olympics gold medal-winning swimmer admits that at one stage she just weighed 60kg

Sydney: Australia's 4x100m freestyle Olympics gold medal-winning swimmer Cate Campbell has admitted she dangerously indulged in food deprivation in order to be really “skinny”.

“Cate Campbell couldn’t ignore those whippet thin catwalk princesses let alone the fashion magazines packed with tiny models -- so during a fragile period of her life the Olympic gold medallist succumbed to the pressure. Campbell decided to be thin. Very thin. This will to lose weight came at a time when she struggled with her identity. In 2009, she had been floored by glandular fever and while she managed to make the 2010 Commonwealth Games team she had to pull out because she was sick,” the Daily Telegraph reported in Australia.

Cate Campbell during a photo session following the 2013 World Championships in Barcelona, Spain. PIC/Getty Images

Olympic glory
Campbell was part of an Aussie 4x100m freestyle relay team which won gold at the 2012 London Olympics. She said: “I was getting sicker and sicker and sicker.” At one stage, she just weighed 60kg after consuming no more than 1000
calories a day.

Campbell, now advocates the importance of being strong and not just skinny: “People get caught up in the idea that health is just what you look like and what you eat, but your health is physical, emotional and mental. Who's to say eating that bowl of ice cream after training isn't going to help me psychologically and emotionally? You look at the Victoria's Secret supermodels, most of them are genetically gifted, granted, but are they healthy, "she asked

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